1. Technical Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a method of selecting a profile stored in an embedded universal integrated circuit (IC) card, a terminal device having a subscriber identity device, and more particularly, to a configuration of attribute information of the profile and a procedure of a terminal device selecting a specific profile using the attribute information.
2. Description of Related Art
A universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is a smart card that may be inserted into a terminal and used as a module for authenticating a user with a mobile communication network to which the user has subscribed. A UICC may store network information (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity, home public land mobile network, etc.) regarding a mobile network operator (MNO) (hereinafter also referred to as an operator), user information (e.g., short message service), and a phonebook. A UICC for Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) may be called a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, and a UICC for Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) or Long Term Evolution (LTE) may be called a universal subscriber identity module (USIM).
Network Access Applications (NAAs), which are applications used to access several networks of several operators, may be included in a UICC.
When a user installs a UICC in the user's terminal, user authentication is automatically performed with a mobile communication network to which the user has been subscribed, and thus the user may conveniently receive a mobile communication service through the terminal. In addition, the user may easily replace his/her terminal by removing a UICC from an old terminal and installing the UICC in a new terminal. When a user intends to change MNOs, the user may simply perform the change by replacing a UICC removed from an existing terminal with that of a desired MNO.
Furthermore, the user may simply change MNOs by replacing the UICC with that of the desired MNO and then use his/her terminal. That is, in an existing UICC environment, a SIM profile properly prepared for requirements of the MNO is embedded in a separate card and distributed independently of the terminal. In order to subscribe to a service of a specific MNO, a user purchases a terminal and a UICC, inserts the UICC into the terminal, activates the terminal according to an activation procedure predetermined by the MNO, and then uses the terminal.
An embedded UICC (hereinafter referred to as eUICC) structure has been proposed to provide the same service as the removable UICC when it is difficult for the user to remove the UICC from the terminal. Such can occur in a terminal that requires minimization. For example, in a machine to machine (M2M) terminal having a structure in which a UICC is installed it may be difficult to replace the UICC, or it may be difficult to replace the UICC when the UICC is provided as a chip in a terminal integration structure rather than in a removable structure since the UICC requires high heat and shock tolerances, compared to an existing UICC having a removable plastic structure.
The eUICC provides a network access authentication function similar to the existing removable UICC. However, network accesses of several operators should be able to be processed using one eUICC because of a difference in physical structure. Furthermore, there are many issues such as eUICC activation/distribution/subscriber information security and thus solutions for the issues need to be provided. In order to solve this, international standardization organizations such as Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) have developed standardization activities on a necessary element including a top structure together with related companies such as a network operator, a manufacturer, a SIM vendor, etc.
In ETSI, a working group (WG) for establishing an eUICC standard is active, and requirements are currently being established to define a module that is called a ‘profile’ to personalize an application for a network access authentication function of several operators, such that the profile may be remotely installed to the eUICC and managed. In addition, a management policy and an application solution of the profile are being discussed, but detailed solutions are not defined yet.
Since details related to profile management of the eUICC are not defined, an eUICC card manufacturer, a terminal manufacturer, and an eco-system operator have many difficulties in developing and commercializing the eUICC. Furthermore, until now, when one or more profiles are installed in the eUICC, a procedure for selecting a specific profile or attribute information regarding profiles needed for the selection is not defined in detail, thus there are difficulties in implementing relevant functions.
Even in a global standard, only the profiles are merely defined, and detailed methods about how the eUICC can provide information to be used to select a specific profile are not discussed; for example, the global standard may only define a profile type (e.g., a provisioning profile and an operational profile), a profile provider (or operator), and a profile state (activation or deactivation) and how the terminal can acquire corresponding information, that is, information for selecting a specific profile to select the specific profile. Accordingly, a method of defining and implementing how profile attribute information such as a profile type (e.g., provisioning profile and an operational profile), a profile provider (or operator), and a profile state (activation or deactivation) that are stored in the eUICC is configured and how the mobile communication terminal can select a specific profile using the profile attribute information is required.